President Bob King has made organizing an Asian- or German-owned auto plant a priority for the UAW.

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Detroit Free Press Business Writer

UAW President Bob King said Tuesday that a German-style works council could improve worker representation at a U.S. auto plant.

"I have always been impressed with the co-determination system. I think that one reason that Volkswagen is arguably one of the most successful companies in the world is because every single one of their facilities have employee representation," King said during an interview for Autoline, which airs on Detroit's public television channel WTVS.

The UAW has enlisted the support of German union IG Metall to win the right to represent workers at Volkswagen's assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Last month, IG Metall President Berthold Huber sent a letter to the VW Tennessee workers urging them to vote for UAW representation.

Volkswagen's board member in charge of human resources, Horst Neumann, told reporters in Europe last month that the automaker is in discussions with the UAW on the matter. King declined to say anything about those discussions.

Under the German model, a works council gives employees a chance to participate in decisions concerning the business and the work force. It also gives workers representation on the company's supervisory board.

Exactly how it would be implemented at a U.S. assembly plant is unclear.

But on Tuesday, King said the VW workers would have to vote for UAW representation first.

"In the U.S., you can't do a works council without the workers being in a union," King said during the Autoline interview. "So if those workers want to have a works council in Chattanooga ... then they would first become UAW members and then would bargain in a works council system."

King, 66, made organizing an auto plant operated by an Asian or German automaker one of his top priorities when he was elected UAW president in 2010.

The 2.5-million-square-foot plant, where Volkswagen produces the Passat sedan, employs about 2,350 full-time employees and, as recently as July, 1,000 temporary workers. The plant, which began production two years ago, is one of the few VW factories without a union.

The UAW also has been trying to organize Nissan's plants in Canton, Miss., and Smyrna, Tenn.

King also said Tuesday that Chrysler should not have fired Alex Wassell, a Chrysler worker who took part in a protest of the automaker's work schedules last month.

"That member never, ever should have been suspended, but we will work that out," King said. "We feel very, very strongly that that was his right. He was protesting us, but he has a right to protest us."

Chrysler initially said Wassell was suspended because he violated of one of the company's codes of conduct for "engaging in activity constituting or appearing to constitute a conflict with the interest of the company."

He has since been terminated. Chrysler declined to comment Tuesday.

The full interview with King is scheduled to begin airing on May 10 on PBS stations nationwide and will air on WTVS (Channel 56) on May 12.